


shelter

by murderstag



Category: Lost
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pet Store, Animal Shelter, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff, M/M, this is cheesy and gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 20:25:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15915630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murderstag/pseuds/murderstag
Summary: While working at an animal shelter, John Locke sparks an unusual relationship with a man interested in adopting a bunny.





	1. Chapter 1

John Locke has had many different jobs throughout his life, but surprisingly, his favorite job of all time was working at his local animal shelter. Working there he actually made some nice friends for once, and he enjoyed working with the animals. He even adopted a dog himself, a brindle Akita that he named Cujo. He was currently working the night shift with Hugo, or Hurley, who was definitely his favorite out of the few workers. The kid was funny and kind to just about anyone he meets, he could get quite paranoid sometimes, but that didn't bother John.

“Hey, dude?”

John looked up as he patted Cujo’s head,“Whaddya need, Hurley?”

“Do you think you could lock up tonight? I totally forgot, I promised my buddy I would go to his concert tonight and if I don’t show he’ll be on my back for weeks about it.”

“Yeah…Yeah, you go ahead Hugo, I got it covered.”

“You sure dude?” He asked, even though he would go regardless of what Locke said.

Locke replied with a nod.

“Dude! You’re a lifesaver, thank you!” He pulled Locke into a hug, but quickly jumped back when he heard a car horn honk, “Oh, Shit! That’s Des, I gotta get going… See you later, dude!

John waved and shook his head to himself as Hurley rushed out the door. After sitting at the counter for a few minutes John made his way to the back of the shelter to feed and water the dogs, who were barking so loud that he didn’t hear the front door close. He did, however, hear a shaky voice shouting all the way from the front of the building.

“H-Hello?!” The voice shouted, followed by the call bell ringing multiple times in a row. John cursed to himself and rushed out of the dog kennel towards the voice. When he got there he saw a man standing across the desk, who looked a bit nervous. His hair was spiky and unkempt, but it looked cute on him in a way… John let his eyes wander over the man. Judging by his big round glasses, pastel pink shirt and fidgety hands, he seemed to be a bit of a timid nerdy type. John figured he probably wasn't here for a hyper, big, dog.

John smiled and held his hand out, “ Hi! Welcome to the Dharma Animal Rescue Center, how can I help you?”

The smaller man shook his hand and squinted his eyes at Johns name tag, “Its nice to meet you… Mr. Locke?”

“Please, Call me John.”

“Were on a first name basis? Jeez, buy a guy a drink first!”

John chuckled and Ben nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

“That was...Stupid, I’m sorry- my name’s Benjamin! Everybody just calls me Ben.”

"It's nice to meet you, Benjamin. What can I do for ya?"

"Do you guys have rabbits here? My daughters 11th birthday is coming up and she's dying for a pet, since I'm allergic to cats and we wouldn't be able to take care of a dog I figured a rabbit would be the best option, I've wanted a bunny ever since I was little- Am I talking to much?"

Johns smile grew even wider as he listened to the man talk, "Not at all! If you wanna follow me right this way, I'll show you to the rabbit room..."

"Of course!"

 John opened the door to the back of the shelter and Ben let out a startled shout as Cujo jumped on top of Locke, "Don't- Worry! That's just... my dog... Cujo! He wouldn't hurt a fly!" John said in between chuckles, while the dog licked his face off.

He finally shoved his dog off of him and he patted his head while his tongue rolled out, Ben just stood silently and stared at the dog. 

"You can pet him, Ben!"

Ben hesitantly leaned down and reached his hand over Cujo's head, "Hes certainly... big," He allowed himself to pet the dogs head, and he chuckled as the dog smiled and panted heavily, "and soft." 

John laughed patted the dogs back, "Ol Cujo here sure loves the attention!"

"Cujo, huh? You happen to be a Stephen King fan?"

Johns smile would've grown even wider, if it were possible, "Oh, absolutely!"

Ben threw his hands in the air, "That's amazing, Stephen King is my favorite author! My favorite novel of his is _IT_."

"That one's a little bit too big for my taste, but I've seen the miniseries... you seem like an Eddie."

Ben chuckled, "He is quite relatable..."

" _Carrie_ is my favorite... I happen to relate to her a lot, I wasn't really the most likable person in high school..."

"Really? You don't seem like the type of person to get shoved into lockers..."

"You'd be surprised."

"I hope this doesn't seem odd, but I'm in a book club and next month we happen to be reading _Carrie_... so if you'd like to join, I can give you my number an-"

"Yeah... Yeah, Id like that."


	2. Chapter 2

John led Ben past the main part of the shelter, where they kept dogs and cats, and into a side room. He flicked a light switch on and threw his arms up in the air, "Welcome to the rabbit room!" 

The first thing Ben noticed about the room is that there wasn’t any cages, the rabbits just roamed free, and they seemed quite well behaved, for the most part. 

The second thing he noticed was that, there wasn't much of a variety of rabbits to choose from, most of them were skittish and very young. Then, almost instantly, his eyes were drawn to a large english lop bunny, sitting in a dog bed.

John's eyes lit up and he walked over to pick up the bunny, "I see you're interested in Jacob!”

Ben smiled and nodded. 

“Do you wanna hold him?”

Ben’s eyes lit up, “Yes, please!”

“Alrighty, here ya go! Just be careful, he’s quite the heavy little fella.”

Ben held his hands and Locke plopped Jacob into his arms. Ben cradled the bunny and stared at it in admiration. A smile spread across his face, “I think I found what I was looking for.”

“Perfect! Well, you just need to sign some adoption papers and if you want I can head over to your place and help set everything up.”

“Oh, I already have everything set up and ready at the house! I’ve been researching quite a bit lately and setting things up while Alex stays at grandpa Richard’s house.” 

“Well, I’m not doubting your ability's, Ben, I’m sure you’ve got it handled, but... I have to come over and check to see if your house is a good environment for the animal. That’s just standard regulation.”

“Oh, of course! You can follow my car if you’d like.”

“Sure thing, Benjamin!”

 

* * *

 

When they finally arrived at Ben’s house, Ben started to fidget his hands a little. “I-I’m uh, sorry if the house is a little messy... I don’t usually invite people over, especially this late.”

“Don’t you worry too much about it, I’m sure it’s fine.” The always giddy John Locke responded.

Ben’s face reddened when they walked into the living room, that had _littlest pet shops_ , scattered across the floor. “Oh, jeez! I’m so sorry... M-my daughter can be quite messy sometimes-“ He franticly hurried across the floor to pick up every single toy and throw them into a bin.

“Nah it’s alright I know how kids can be. Just make sure to keep an eye on her around the rabbit, if it get ahold of one of those toys it might ruin it or even make the rabbit sick.”

“Of course, she knows better, anyway.”

“Did you say you had a pen set up? Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

“Not at all! Follow me.”

Johns eyes widened when he saw the large cage in front of him, filled with comfy fleece and all sorts of toys for the rabbit to enjoy. “Man, you weren't kiddin’ around when you said ya did some research. I think Jacob’s gonna be living large!” 

Ben smiled, “Really? You mean that?”

“Of course! I can tell how passionate you are about this rabbit and I gotta say I'm impressed. I’m gonna go grab that chunky rabbit out of the truck and get everything figured out.” 

John turned around to go out to the truck but paused when Ben said “Hey John?”

He turned around. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

A genuine warm smile spread across John's face. “Anytime, Benjamin.”


End file.
